Judge

JUDGE, noun [Latin judex, supposed to be compounded of jus, law or right, and dico, to pronounce.]

1. A civil officer who is invested with authority to hear and determine causes, civil or criminal, between parties, according to his commission; as the judges of the king's bench, or of the common pleas; judges of the supreme court, of district courts, or of a county court. The judge of a court of equity is called a chancellor.

4. One who has skill to decide on the merits of a question, or on the value of any thing; one who can discern truth and propriety.

A man who is no judge of law, may be a good judge of poetry or eloquence, or of the merits of a painting.

5. In the history of Israel, a chief magistrate, with civil and military powers. The Israelites were governed by judges more than three hundred years, and the history of their transactions is called the book of Judges.

6. A juryman or juror. In criminal suits, the jurors are judges of the law as well as of the fact.

JUDGE, verb intransitive [Latin judico.]

1. To compare facts or ideas, and perceive their agreement or disagreement, and thus to distinguish truth from falsehood.